(WEBMASTER'S Note: This Interview was conducted in May of 2009, before the Brothers got all digital... Too cool not to add to the online archives though- enjoy!)
Clutch: Whazup fans? You know how bummed we are that Galactica is over. So we are looking for some entertainment alternatives.
tFidy : There’s lots of big budget action films coming out this summer which we hope to see.
Shipwreck: Trek, Wolverine, Terminator, Harry Potter, GI Joe, Land of the Lost… just to name a few
tFidy: Land of the Lost?
Shipwreck: Oh yeah, Will Farrell getting his 70’s groove on, wouldn’t miss it! The Sleestack are totally bad ass!
Clutch: Ah yeah…Right now we are going to focus on some cool stuff going on in the world of independent film making.
Shipwreck : With us today is René Perez, of iDiC Entertainment, writer / director / band leader and creator of the independent action films – Silent Enclision and the upcoming War Machine. Fans, if you haven’t checked out these movies yet go to www.idicentertainment.com and do so right now!
tFidy: René, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. We really enjoyed Silent Enclision and are looking forward to your upcoming features as well.
RP: My thanks to you for acknowledging the indie film makers.
Clutch: Silent Enclision is a rather unique approach to an action film, in that there is no dialogue. What inspired you to do a movie in this format?
RP: Well as an up and coming director with everything to prove I'm always looking for ways to out shine the competition. There were a few reasons for no dialogue. It's never been done before and I thought it was artistic. I had also hear a lot of talk about how indie directors just don't have the skills to film an entire scene without dialogue. So I did the whole first 30 minute chapter without dialogue. I feel that the story stills comes across, so do the fans and so do the critics. The hardest part was making the tense moments come across and in addition to making the story understood I also wanted to add mystery. Those are all especially hard to do when no one talks.
Shipwreck : A few things really struck us about this film
For one, the music – We enjoy your band iDiC; how would you characterize your style?
RP: I'm not sure what to call our style. We do a mix of metal and electronica. Maybe they should invent a category called Rocktronica just for us.
tFidy: “Rocktronica” I like that!
Clutch: “Sweet Good Night” and “Bring the Pain” really set the tone for the movie and trailer.
RP: Thanks. Those are fun to record and fun to use in movie's but they are both very hard to sing live. I have to drink lots of tea before getting on stage when songs like that are on our set list.
Shipwreck: By the way, your music videos rock! Are we just big nerds or was one of the ladies in your “Sweet Good Night” video wearing an old school Star Trek dress?
RP: Yeah I'm a major Star Trek nerd. Especially the old school. My bands name is iDiC. And our second to last album was called TechnoTalshia. Both are star trek inspired titles. I don't think that girl who wore the dress even knows what star trek is. But she looked good in the dress.
tFidy: Gotta agree with you there!
Shipwreck: Oh yeah, remind us never to go in a mosh pit with you!
RP: That's funny.
Clutch: The Hand to Hand combat was outstanding. What discipline are the actors using?
RP: It was a mix of Taikuando, kung fu, Muay Thai, Jujitsu and a few others. It was a difficult task but I felt it was important for a Ninja to know more than one discipline.
Clutch: Absolutely! So often, the hand to hand fight scenes look more like acrobatics than martial arts…. Fids!! Would you stop humming “Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting”? We are trying to be serious here!
tFidy:
Sorry... Shipwreck: Were you involved in performing and or choreographing the fight scenes?
RP: I did most of the choreography on this one, but I only preform during the Muay Thai moves. That's the style that I'm proficient in. Our ninja actor is a taikuando guy so he over sees all of the taikuando moves and then we have a jujitsu guy and so on and so on. Then with all of us pro's coming up with moves, I try to make sense of it all and make it all work cinematically. It's great because I learn a lot of moves from different styles and the guys get to learn Muay Thai techniques from me.
tFidy : The Easter Eggs – we noticed your Silent Commando had a note pad with “iDiC” written on the cover and the damsel in distress had on your band t-shirt. We love that kind of stuff.
Were there any other hidden gems like that in other parts of the film? Messages in the graffiti perhaps?
RP: You noticed. The T-shirt was intentional. The note pad was a fluke. I wanted a 'hello kitty' note pad but my producer thought I was kidding so he put an iDiC sticker on the note pad and by the time he showed it to me, it was too late to do anything about it. I think Hello Kitty pad would have stood out more and been funny.
Clutch: The scene where your ‘Silent Commando’ has to get a code from the damsel in distress was very tense. We weren’t sure what direction it was going. It could have played out several different ways, most of them pretty grim. What were your thoughts / intentions when creating this scene?
RP: I was trying to make it tense to the point of being uncomfortable. It's extremely hard to do without words but from hearing you I guess it worked. You asked about my intentions- I make direct to dvd movie's and they need lots of violence and nudity in order to sell. Instead of a basic sex scene I thought it would be best to show the nudity by making it sensual or erotic but to stay within the confines of the story. Now the suits might ask why didn't they have sex? Well,.. she doesn't know him, so he'd have to rape her and he isn't a bad guy. He's an assassin but not a rapist. The Ninja needed something from her. It was part of the puzzle he was solving. By filming what I did, the distributor gets the nude scene that they need, and I get to keep my artistic integrity.
Shipwreck: The ending floored us. We’re thinking, “all is good, we are going to have a happy ending” and then BAM!! You hit us in the head with a 2x4 of a plot twist. Thanks for that, it totally left a mark! It left us jonesing for a sequel.
RP: Well chapter 1 is called Silent Enclision and it was meant to have every puzzle piece that the Ninja solves be another question for the viewer to ask. Now in the next two chapters Ghost of War and On the Warpath (which we just finished filming) the answers will be presented and every one will know what the mysteries in Silent Enclision where all about.
Clutch: We hear you are releasing one soon - Ninja Warpath .
RP: Yes, Ninja WarPath will be made of of three 30 minute chapters. The first chapter being Silent Enclision which is already available on-line. Then we pick up directly where Silent Enclision left off with chapter 2 called 'Ghost of War'. Next is chapter 3 'On the warpath'. Everything is already filmed so I hope to have it released soon on DVD.
Shipwreck: Awesome, we can’t wait! So what’s the Silent Guy’s next move?
RP: In these next chapters he gets the answers that everyone has been wondering about. He gets a new love interest, he gets in trouble with his government and in the end, the world’s most dangerous terrorist comes gunning after him.
tFidy: Will it be a similar format?
RP: No the next 2 chapters have dialogue. Everyone minus the Ninja will be talking.
Clutch: Any release date for the next installment?
RP: The next 2 installments will be going direct to DVD. Unlike chapter 1 Silent Enclision which came out on-line first. The on-line download thing didn't go well for us. We got pirated right away. So we'll be putting chapter #1 Silent Enclision at the beginning of the movie, then chapter #2 Ghost of War, then chapter #3 On the Warpath all together as one movie called Ninja Warpath. As for the exact date? I know I'll have it finished in about a month. I'm doing the music score right now. But since it's going to DVD, it'll be up to the distributor as to when it hits the shelves. We have a distributor in place already so I'm hoping for a speedy release.
Clutch: Us too!
Shipwreck: Your upcoming film War Machine has really piqued our interest.
Teaser: A terrorist force rises in the third world. It’s target the United States of America. The US forms a new Black Operatives unit to engage the new enemy. The threat has come. Prepare for war.
We like what we have read and seen so far. Can you give us any more insight into the movie’s plot?
RP: I finished that movie in 2007 and the distributor is only releasing it now in 2009. We've had major fan mail for it so I don't know why 'the suits' decided to wait so long. Now that it's finally coming out on DVD I don't wanna give away too much about the plot. It's mainly about a terrorist who wants to take over the American Government.
tFidy: The 3 guys from the “American Black Ops unit” featured in the trailer look like some bad mo fo’s; good with a gun and the martial arts. What can you tell us about these guys?
Will they go by code names like some other cool military heroes we know?
RP: No, they will be using their Rank only. Their names will be classified as they are on a black ops mission. I did this to make it seem more realistic and to have a loop hole for comic book fans to have the freedom to imagine that they are whom ever they want.
Clutch: Saw a GI Jane in the trailer. Will she go all Lara Croft and pop caps with the rest of the team? Or will she have more of an intel / support role?
RP: We do have a woman who is playing an intelligence officer. And she mainly sticks to providing intel to our troops.
Shipwreck: Speaking of “Janes”, we are completely intrigued by your raven haired femme fatale. She seems like a bad girl! What is her story?
RP: I'm sure what you meant to ask me is "does she get naked in the movie?"
Shipwreck: laughs .. Yeah that’s pretty much what I was getting at… We are the BiA after all…
RP: The answer is... yes. Her scenes alone make the movie worth watching. But in addition to that her character is very cool. She has joined the terrorist because she wants to be the queen of America once her Commander takes over. There is a scene where she injects our hero with a truth serum that works best when the subject is sexually aroused. So she gets a female prisoner and starts torturing our hero by giving him an awesome girl on girl display. Sufficed to say, our hero succumbs to the truth serum. This movie is a total guy movie for sure. Lots of machine guns, kung fu and hot babes.
Clutch: That’s a recipe for success in our book!
tFidy: The speech from the “Commander” of the terrorist group looking to ‘usher in a new golden age’ was interesting. In these troubled times his message can be appealing to some. What are your thoughts?
RP: Well I was pissed off with our last president for being a war mongering idiot. And now I'm pissed off that people elected an inexperienced puppet president just so they can seem politically correct. Basically, I'm tired of all of these bastards. I wanted to create a villain who could stand up to the never ending line of useless presidents and their stale government. In this movie the Commander goes directly after the government and promises a better future for American citizens. But this is a man who can deliver. My goal was to make an enemy Commander who walked a very fine line between being a hero and a villain. For example, I agree with most of everything he says. But I wouldn't want people to die to make those things a reality. The enemy Commander IS willing to start a war to enforce his beliefs. And he is willing to accept collateral casualties. To me, that is the only thing that makes him a villain. But I'd still trade him for Obama any day. And you can quote me on that.
Shipwreck: Are the events in War Machine Related to those in Silent Enclision? Or is it more a story set in the same continuity?
RP: It's just the same continuity. The Silent Enclision and the entire Ninja Warpath stories are prequels to War Machine. The Ninja / commando character from Silent Enclision is also the Ninja from War Machine.
Clutch: Any updated timetable on when War Machine will be released?
RP: War Machine will be doing business at Cannes in the middle of May and the release date will be known as soon as my distributor gets back from the festival. Unless he calls me from the festival. But I doubt it. We'll have an exact date by the end of May. And my apologies to everyone who has been waiting. I myself have been waiting since 2007. So I share your impatience.
tFidy: Thanks Again René for talking with us! Can’t wait to see more action from you and the crew at iDiC.
Shipwreck: That’s all we have time for this time. Be here next month when we go over some of the best comics you might not know about and the direct to DVD movies we are watching.
Clutch: Til then, Peace - Brothers Out!
